Sliding window fixture



Sept. 27, 1938. NYE 2,131,821

SLIDING WINDOW FIXTURE Filed March 19, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept 27,1938.

A. F. NYE I SLIDING WINDOW FIXTURE Filed March 19, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Sept. 27, 1938 UNlTED STATES SLIDING WINDOW FIXTURE Alvin F.Nye, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to Fli-Bac Products Corporation,Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 19, 1935,Serial No. 11,827

8 Claims.

My present invention relates to sliding fixtures for windows and similaropenings, such as screens and curtains, involving the use of guides onthe sides of the window frame and a cooperating element on the screen,curtain or other closure to maintain it in adjusted position, and it hasfor its general object to provide an improved structure of thischaracter that will be simple and convenient in operation and economicalin manufacture. The improvements are directed in part toward renderingthe adaptation of the sliding element to the guides adjustable to takecare of variations in the width of window frames and. toward a manuallyoperable clamping means between the two.

To these and other ends, theinvention resides in certain improvementsand combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed, the novel features being pointed out in 20 the claims at theend of this specification.

, In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view from the inside of a window frame, shown in section,fitted with a sliding screen constructed in accordance with andillustrating one embodiment of my invention, part of the screenstructure being broken away to reveal interior parts;

Fig. 2 is a central vertical section therethrough, enlarged, and withthe window frame omitted and the central portion brokenaway;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view of one end of the slidingelement and its guides with the clamp in operative position;

Fig. 4 is a similar view with the clamp in inoperative position;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3, looking in thedirection of the arrows;

Fig. 6 is a further enlarged section on the line 66 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged front view of one of the clamps, detached, and

Fig. 8 shows a fragment of the guide, partly in vertical section, toillustrate my method of splicing sections thereof together.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several views indicate thesame parts.

As before indicated, my improvements are applicable to various kinds ofsliding fixtures, but in the accompanying drawings I have illustratedthe invention in connection with a roll fly screen for windows and Iwill describe it, specifically, so embodied.

This general type of screen is shown and de- 1937, resulting from mycopending application, and therefore, a brief description of the struc--ture extraneous to the present improvements will suffice here. Referringmore particularly to the drawings, I indicates a window frame or casingand 2 the sill thereof. Closely fitting the top thereof and supported inend brackets 3 at the sides is a. tubular casing 4 containing a springroller 5 to which is secured at 6, to be wound thereon into a roll bythe spring I or forcibly unwound therefrom, a screen web or strip ofwire fabric 8.

The outer or lower and free end of the screen is attached to a slidingcross rail 9 by being crimped under a flange at the top edge thereof, asbest shown at In in Fig. 2, the rail being preferably of sheet metal, asappears. An intermediate portion of the rail is doubled inwardlylongitudinally in a loop II that provides a ledge or flange constitutinga grip for the fingers whereby the rail and screen may be raised andlowered. A clip l2 at the lower edge of the rail secures thereto a strip[3 of stiff felt or similar partially yielding buffer material thatmakes tight and silent contact with the sill 2. In passing in and out ofthe roll casing 4, the screen web travels through a felt linedlongitudinal slot 14 at the inner edge of the bottom of the casing l.

Secured to opposite sides of the window frame are guides l5 embodying aninwardly projecting flange l6 terminating in an inwardly (with referenceto the window opening) offset bead IT. The ends of the rail plate 9 or,rather, reenforcements l8 thereon engage against and slidably ride uponthe outer sides of the flanges Iii, while a grooved portion I9 on eachof 'two clamping plates 28 fits over and slides against the beads H inopposition thereto. As each of these clamping plates is identical withthe other, except for being rights and lefts, a description of one willsuffice for both.

Mounted on the inner side of the rail is a fixed post 21 which,incidentally, as shown in Fig. 6, is shouldered and riveted at 22 tohold the reenforcing base plate 18 in place in conjunction with thefinger hold I I. The plate is provided with a slot 23 through which thispost extends as a guide and the plate is also guided by a contact at itsupper edge with the finger hold ll so that it is capable of movingslidably a limited distance longitudinally of the rail. superposed rupon the plate and swinging on the post as a pivot is a hand lever 24,the central portion of which is generally circular and has two segmentalcams 25 rising therefrom around the post in spaced relationship in theform of a broken cylinder.

The cams at their high points are positioned to ride against fixedlateral abutments on the post in the present form of the ends of atransverse pin 26 extending therethrough. At their low points or whilethe intervening spaces are in register with the pin, a yielding tensionis maintained between the abutments and the lever and, in turn, betweenthe lever and the sliding plate 20 by a compression spring 21 coiledabout the post and reacting between the latter and a washer 28 that liesagainst the abutments. The operation is as follows:

When the lever is depressed to a horizontal position, that is, swunginwardly toward the center of the rail, as in Figs. 1, 3, 5 and 6, thehigh points of the cams ride against the pin 26, and the shape of theplate 20 is such that it is both clamped against the rail and thegrooved portion i9 thereof is clamped against the bead to hold thescreen and rail rigidly and fixedly in either the closed positions ofthe several figures or in any intermediate position on the guides. Whenswung back to the vertical position of Fig. 4, or anything approximatingit, the cams disengage from the pin but sufficient pressure or tensionis still maintained between the parts by the spring 21 to hold the leverthere and maintain them without apparent looseness, though the clampingportion l9 of the plate 20 has only a yielding frictional engagementwith the bead II. It is also free to slide with some frictionalresistance longitudinally of the rail 9 back and forth on its guides.The rail and screen can thus be moved freely up or down but without anyrattle or lost motion.

The longitudinal sliding movement of the plates 28 just described isimportant for this reason: Window casings both new and old,butparticularly after installation, are sure to warp at least to asufficient extent to render the guides l8ll on opposite sides thereofnot exactly parallel. Rigid clamping connections on the rail, unless anundesirable allowance is made for lost motion, are apt to jam or bemoved only with difiiculty. With the clamps of my invention mounted asthey are, they are free to weave back and forth in such instances,accommodating themselves to these inequalities while at the same timegripping the guides firmly and noiselessly.

In Figs. 1 and 8, I have shown a convenient means for splicing abuttingends of the guide flanges is together when they are made in sectionsinstead of one piece, as is sometimes convenient. This consists of asplice pin 29 that is swedged in the respective bead portions l1 andwhich accurately alines them.

The constant tension of the spring 21 on the clamps [9, as aforesaid,produces a minimum frictional resistance regardless of the release ofthe levers 24. The extent of such resistance should at least be such asto prevent the screen from gathering substantial momentum from thespring roll as it is raised. In fact, in most instances, the frictionaladjustment should not be so weak as to characterize the device as oneintended to be drawn down by hand and return mechanically. Rather, thespring roll is essentially a take-up roll to keep the screen taut at alltimes and to wind it in when the lower rail is raised by hand. At anyrate, when free, it preferably raises very slowly by itself.

With this in mind, I form the guide beads I! with slightly enlarged orbulged portions 30 at their central portions so that the groovedportions IQ of the spring clamps have to yield to a greater extent andhence have more difficulty in passing it though they can still be forcedby. This is to meet a desire to leave the screen half open or raised forany purpose. While not a positive stop, it is effective to accomplishthis with the frictional adjustments described.

It will be observed that the wire mesh screen proper is wider than themean distance between the guides I6 so that its edges ride only on theoutside faces thereof, being held in insect-tight contact therewith bythe spring take-up roll. This is a departure from the customary practiceof confining the edges of the screen in grooves or between a pair ofguides. The objection I have found to the latter arrangement is that if,through accident or ignorance, a force or blow is exerted outwardlyagainst the bodyv of the screen it leaves its guides, is usually bentand distorted as a result thereof and difficulty is experienced inrestoring the edges to the guides and working the screen smoothlythereafter. With the present construction, on the other hand, no suchdamage and difiiculty occurs. The exerted force simply bulges out thescreen as a whole, it leaves the guiding face without restraint, thespring roller unwinds yieldingly and thereafter the latter takes up theslack and restores the edges fiat against the guides again.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a screen slide or the like, the combination with a pair of spacedlateral guides, of a transverse rail extending between them havingportions slidably engaging one side of each guide, clamps respectivelyslidably engaging the other sides thereof and also slidable on the railitself, and means on the rail for tightening the .clamps, each guide andclamp couplebeing provided with interlocking means resisting movement ofthe clamp transversely of the guide.

2. In a screen slide or the like, the combination with a pair of spacedlateral guides, of a transverse rail extending between them havingportions slidably engaging one side of each guide, clamps respectivelyslidably engaging the other sides thereof, and means on the rail fortightening the clamps, the latter being adjustable on said meanslongitudinally of the rail, each guide and clamp couple being providedwith interlocking means resisting movement of the clamp transversely ofthe guide.

3. In a screen slide or the like, the combination with a pair of spacedlateral guides, of a transverse rail extending between them havingportions slidably engaging one side of each guide, clamps slidablelongitudinally of the rail itself and respectively slidably engaging theother sides of the guides, and means on the rail for locking the clampsthereto and tightening them against the guides, each guide and clampcouple being provided with interlocking means resisting movement of theclamp transversely of the guide.

v 4. In a screen slide or the like, the combination with a pair oflateral guides adapted to be attached to the sides of a window casingand embodying flanges having offset beads thereon, of a transverse railextending between the guides having portions engaging one side of theflanges, clamps having grooved portions slidably engaging the beads onthe other side of each flange and themselves slidable longitudinally ofthe rail, and

therethrough and a hand lever pivoted on the post and having a camconnection therewith whereby, on turning, it is forced against andactuates the clamp.

6. A screen slide construction in accordance with claim 2 embodying theprovision of a slot in each clamp, a fixed post on the rail extendingtherethrough, a hand lever pivoted on the post and provided with a cam,an abutment on the post with which the cam engages, and a .compressionspring acting against the hand lever and reacting against the post.

'7. In a screen slide or the like, the combination with a pair oflateral guides adapted to be attached to the sides of a window casingand embodying flanges having offset beads thereon, of a transverse railextending between the guides having portions engaging one side of theflanges, clamps having grooved portions slidably engaging the beads onthe other side of each flange, and means for tightening the clampsagainst both the rail and the bead.

8. In a screen slide or the like, the combination with a pair of lateralguides adapted to be ate tached to the sides of a window casing andembodying flanges having offset beads thereon, of a transverse railextending between the guides having portions engaging one side of theflanges, clamps having grooved portions slidably engaging the beads onthe other side of each flange, and means on the rail exerting springpressure against the clamps and holding them frictionally to the beads.

ALVIN F. NYE.

